Magic Item Creation Costs


Rules Questions


Looking to make my first magic item as a lv6 Magus and I wanted to sanity check the cost mechanics. The item is a +1 mithril chain shirt with a continuous effect of Celestial Healing.
So for crafting/enchanting, all costs are halved from market value yes? Therefore my 100GP chain shirt costs 50GP to craft. Plus another 500 to make it out of mithril. Then another 500 to enchant as a +1 (required to then add the healing effect). If I then add lv1 Celestial healing that's spell lv x caster lv x 2000 x 4, or 1 x 1 x 2000 x 4 = 8000. Halved would be 4000. So total cost is 5050 GP - does that look right?
Firstly am I right in thinking that I can use this at lv1 to make it cheaper? As a spell it's useless at lv1 because it's 1 round per 2 levels, but as an item continual effect I see no reason why this wouldn't work:

From the Paizo page wrote:
If a continuous item has an effect based on a spell with a duration measured in rounds, multiply the cost by 4. If the duration of the spell is 1 minute/level, multiply the cost by 2, and if the duration is 10 minutes/level, multiply the cost by 1.5. If the spell has a 24-hour duration or greater, divide the cost in half.

It is measured in rounds (it's not specific as to how many rounds per level, unlike longer durations). Also would I infer from this that Infernal healing can never be crafted as a continuous item as it's duration is a flat minute and unaffected by level? And what about spells that last 1 hour per level? I see a lot of people saying that celestial healing is useless by comparison but this would seem to be a good balancer if IH can't be put onto an item continually.


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You're missing a few things.

First, you use the armor as a base. This means you need a masterwork mithril chain shirt in advance, before using Craft Magic Arms and Armor.

Second, the first step of figuring out how much an item would cost is to compare it to similar items, before you consult the table. For Celestial Healing, the desired effect (Permanent Fast Healing 1, good aura) is best compared to a Ring of Regeneration, which is worth 90,000gp. Granted, it doesn't possess all the advantages of the ring, but it still possesses the primary one. There is no way 8000 is a fair price.

Magic Item Creation wrote:
The correct way to price an item is by comparing its abilities to similar items (see Magic Item Gold Piece Values), and only if there are no similar items should you use the pricing formulas to determine an approximate price for the item. If you discover a loophole that allows an item to have an ability for a much lower price than is given for a comparable item, the GM should require using the price of the item, as that is the standard cost for such an effect. Most of these loopholes stem from trying to get unlimited uses per day of a spell effect from the "command word" or "use-activated or continuous" lines of Table: Estimating Magic Item Gold Piece Values.


Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Lost Omens, PF Special Edition, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

In short, ask your GM.

The first rule when pricing out custom magic items is to look at other existing items for similar effects. A continual fast healing 1 is less powerful than the healing granted by ring of regeneration; it heals you but doesn't make you immune to bleed or regrow limbs. I might therefore put fast healing 1 at around 1/4-1/3 the price of the ring, so (if I was the GM) it would cost around 11,250-15,000 gp to add that effect onto your armor.

Another similar item is boots of the earth, where to activate the fast healing 1 granted by the item you have to expend a move action and thereafter not move at all. It costs 2,500 gp to craft. By removing the action requirement and having it work all the time, and also allowing the effect to function while unconscious, you'd apply some arbitrary (chosen by your GM) multiplier. I'd personally make that no less than 4, which would mean 10,000 gp. This is pretty close to that 11,250 gp number for the ring of regeneration comparison, so that's likely the number I'd go with.

(Note: all costs above are crafting costs, the market value would be twice what is listed. The costs also don't take the price of the mithral chain shirt or requisite enhancement bonus into effect either. For armor, I'd think fast healing 1 would probably count as a +2 special ability)

The Exchange Owner - D20 Hobbies

Gilespee wrote:
+1 mithril chain shirt with a continuous effect of Celestial Healing.

As your GM, players are not the creators of items.

Second, that is all wrong based on the rules/guidelines.

You don't add abilities like that on armor, typically on wondrous items and 1.5 or higher on non-wondrous.

Third, healing 1 point per round is similar to Ring of Regeneration. So you need to consider the cost on a wondrous item somewhere between 45,000 gp to 90,000 (discounted for not regrowing limbs.)

In other words, super expensive.


Thanks for the responses! :)

I figured it wouldn't need the masterwork cost adding as it's included in the 1000GP (or 500GP for crafting) cost for mithril.

Special Materials wrote:

Weapons or armors fashioned from mithral are always masterwork items as well; the masterwork cost is included in the prices given below.

Type of Mithral Item Item Cost Modifier
Light armor +1,000 gp
Medium armor +4,000 gp
Heavy armor +9,000 gp
Shield +1,000 gp
Other items +500 gp/lb.

I had read about the 'fair' cost of custom items, just hadn't come across other items that grant this so wasn't aware they're crazy-expensive - I'm still pretty new to Pathfinder. : )

Thanks again


Gilespee wrote:

Thanks for the responses! :)

I figured it wouldn't need the masterwork cost adding as it's included in the 1000GP (or 500GP for crafting) cost for mithril.

Special Materials wrote:

Weapons or armors fashioned from mithral are always masterwork items as well; the masterwork cost is included in the prices given below.

Type of Mithral Item Item Cost Modifier
Light armor +1,000 gp
Medium armor +4,000 gp
Heavy armor +9,000 gp
Shield +1,000 gp
Other items +500 gp/lb.

I had read about the 'fair' cost of custom items, just hadn't come across other items that grant this so wasn't aware they're crazy-expensive - I'm still pretty new to Pathfinder. : )

Thanks again

The half cost when crafting thing only applies to magical items. The mithral chain shirt isn't magical and so uses the rules from the Craft skill (only payinig 1/3 of the items price in materials).

Only after you already have the mithral chain shirt (either by making it yourself for 1/3 the cost or buying it outright for normal cost) can you start the magical part of crafting, where the magical effects cost half when made by yourself.


Thanks Jeraa, so initially I would make the non-enchanted shirt for 1100/3 = 367GP? Then on the next day I can imbue a +1 enchantment on it for 1000/2=500GP?
Then the day(s) after add some other magical property to it for the respective cost?

I'm instead thinking of going for a CLW or Infernal Healing charges per day instead of continual effect, though I'll need to have a hunt around for similar pre-made items to ensure it doesn't break the fairness rule. As a magus I would have to make a UMD check for CLW of course....

Would there be any restrictions on imbuing a suit of armour with a healing spell in this way? I know people typically use wands/rods but I don't have the feat to craft that.

Thanks again for the help!


do you have someone with mundane crafting that can make the mithral shirt? its "craft armor" and will take a few weeks prolly.

The basic function of the Craft skill, however, is to allow you to make an item of the appropriate type. The DC depends on the complexity of the item to be created. The DC, your check result, and the price of the item determine how long it takes to make a particular item. The item's finished price also determines the cost of raw materials.

To determine how much time and money it takes to make an item, follow these steps.
1.Find the item's price in silver pieces (1 gp = 10 sp).
2.Find the item's DC from Table: Craft Skills.
3.Pay 1/3 of the item's price for the raw material cost.
4.Make an appropriate Craft check representing one week's worth of work. If the check succeeds, multiply your check result by the DC. If the result × the DC equals the price of the item in sp, then you have completed the item. (If the result × the DC equals double or triple the price of the item in silver pieces, then you've completed the task in one-half or one-third of the time. Other multiples of the DC reduce the time in the same manner.) If the result × the DC doesn't equal the price, then it represents the progress you've made this week. Record the result and make a new Craft check for the next week. Each week, you make more progress until your total reaches the price of the item in silver pieces.

Action: Craft checks are made by the day or week (see above).

Retry? Yes, but if you fail a check by 4 or less, you make no progress this week (or day, see below). If you miss by 5 or more, you ruin half the raw materials and have to pay half the original raw material cost again.


Ah ok, I forgot about the craft times being so long. We have our first one month of downtime so I'll see what the DM allows in coin earned as it might make more sense to simply earn the coin and buy a ready-made mithril shirt, my craft is only 6 ranks at the minute.

The Exchange Owner - D20 Hobbies

Daily free healing is expensive and rare. To my knowledge only ring of regen and the 1/hr ioun do it. Expensively.

Putting on armor should be in line with ioun stone cost.

Silver Crusade

There's also those boots of the earth or whatever they're called.

The Exchange Owner - D20 Hobbies

Pretty sure boots got errata to 1/day


Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Lost Omens, PF Special Edition, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

The 1/day is a PFS houserule; the item itself has not been errataed.

The Exchange Owner - D20 Hobbies

Fair enough, I think it's safe to say it's underpriced.

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